Automatic machine for beveling glass



Oct. 3, 1939. L. GUGALA 2,174,721

AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR BEVELING GLASS Filed April 2, 1938 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Lama's @421.

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Oct. 3, 1939. L. GUGALA' 2,174,721

AUTOMATIC IACHINE FOR BEVELING GLASS Filed April 2, 1958 I 9 Sheets=-Sheet 4 if 1, 11 LL; 1 1 73 w 21 7; "uuml w 6 6 I 1 Mp J 0 z 1 1 1 K l 1 131 5g I Z 21 23,86 1 5 1 1T a I 5 H M I 0 Ill 7 Li l 1 21 z; I. IL. a m 124 :3

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' Au'romu'zc ncunis FOR BEVELING GLASS Filed April 2, 1938 9 Sheets-Sheet Oct. 3, 1939 L. GUGALA 2 wron'rzc MACHINE FOR BEVELING GLASS Filed April 2, 1938 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Ira/enter.

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AUTOIATIC IACHINE FOR BEVELING GLASS Filed April 2, 1933 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Z! J! 13f z X 9, m1 1 f V J Y b RT: I I p o /Q\ 152 M 4 A 121 11 HI iag lw fj j y 3 121 5'}; 61 W 119 j 3 194 as; if! r we we 161 jqttbrney. I

Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Louis Gugal'a, Ludington, Mich. Application April 2, 1938, Serial No, 199,599

15 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in grinding machines and more particularly to an automatic apparatus 'for beveling glass plate, which includes a plurality of work-holding units operated from a common source individually timed to be independently disassociated automatically from said source of power as various steps of the grinding operations are completed.

An object of the invention is to provide an automatic apparatus that will grind and polish a bevel edge on circular or polygonal glass plate.

Another object is to provide an automatic glass plate grinding and polishing apparatus with automatic independently actuated timing mechanism for each operation.

Another object is to provide an automatic grinding and polishing apparatus with n'ovelly.

constructed workholding means.

Another object .is to provide an apparatus-of the character described with novel operable means to locate a glass plate in the workholder.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of the character described that will more quickly and efiiciently bevel glass plate accurately and at less cost than known prior devices.

The foregoing and such other objects of the invention as will appear hereinafter as the description proceeds will be more readily understood from a perusal of thefollowing specification, reference b ing had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the grinding apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus showing showing parts in elevation.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional stantially on line 6.-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 'I-I of Fig. 8, showing parts in elevation.

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan view taken on line 88 of Fig. '7.

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view taken subs'tantially on line 9'9 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line Ill-l of Fig. 4. I

Fig. 11'is a fragmentary side elevational view of one of the workholding units showing one of the timing mechanisms in elevation.

view taken subof power and Fig. 12 is a vertical sectional view taken on line taken substantially on line tendant whose only duty consists in removing a finished glass plate and inserting a new one, as well asstopping and starting the machine as required. Because accurate and efficient beveling of glass plate requires that such plate be first subjected to rough grinding, then fine grinding and finally polishing, it is essential that any wholly automatic machine includes what will be termed four stations or positions of. operation. Inthe description to follow, these stations will be identified by the letters A, B, C and D. Station A will be termed the servicing station, station E the rough grinding, station C the fine grinding and station D the polishingstations. As theoperations performed at each station are the same except as to the operating time which determines the extent of the grinding operation, the improved mechanism, as best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, includes four like workholding units ll. These workholding units, one of which will be described in detail hereinafter, are arranged one on either side of a turntable I2 which preferably is square. The turntable i2 is supported .on the upper end of avertical shaft l3 rotatably mounted in a bearing boss H which is bolted or otherwise secured to the floor. Also mounted on the shaft l3 spaced below the turntable l2, and connected thereto so as to be rotatable therewith, is a platform 15 preferably having a ring gear I6' at its bottom ,face with which meshes a pinion l1 mounted upon a horizontal shaft l8 having an operating handle IS on its other end. Rotation manually of the shaft I8 turns the platform and likewise the shaft l3 and turntable l2 and in this manner the various work holding units l l are ,moved progressively from one station to the next succeeding station during the grinding and finishing operations. Although hand operation of the turntable is preferable it is obvious that suitable power operated means could be provided for this purpose.

- Workholding units As previously mentioned, each of the workholding units H are identical and, as best shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, each unit includes a substantially rectangular supporting frame 2| arranged in a vertical position and having two rearwardly extending parallel spaced apart plates 22, one on each longitudinal side thereof, each of which carries guide rollers 23. These rollers are guided in suitable tracks preferably formed by opposed (ihannels 24 which are rigidly attached to horizontal arms 25, extending-beyond one edge of the turntable l2, by vertical supports 26. .Thistype of mounting permits: limited horizontal movement of the frame'2| inwardly and outwardly, relative to the turntable |2 and prevents tilting of said frame out of its vertical plane. The mechanisms to cause such reciprocable movement of this frame and the purpose thereof will be more fully described hereinafter.

The outside longitudinal vertical edges of the frame 2| preferably are channeled to embrace the rear edges of the vertical walls, respectively, of a vertically slidable carriage 2|. The carriage 21 also preferably is in the form of a substantially rectangular frame and has axially aligned guide pins 28 and 29 extending upwardly and downwardly, respectively, from the top and bottom horizontal walls of said carriage 21. These axially aligned pins serve to guide the carriage 2'! during its vertical movement and, to this end, the pin 28 extends through an apertured lug 3| projecting from the horizontal top wall of the supporting frame 2|, and the pin 29 extends through an apertured lug 32 on the horizontal bottom wall of the frame 2|.

A lever 33, pivoted near one end to a bracket 34 mounted on the horizontal top wall of frame 2|, has one of its free ends connected by a link I 35 to the protruding end of guide pin 28. The

other end of the lever 33 receives a counterweight 36 which is adjustable therealong. The counterweight 36 normally is overbalanced by the weight of the carriage 21 and the parts carried therein (which will be described hereinafter) so that the carriage normally rests in its lowermost position on the vertical supporting frame '2|.

A tiltable workholder frame 31 is mounted, adjacent its lower end as at 38, inside the carriage 21. This tiltable frame also preferably is substantially rectangular, as best shown in Fig. 1, and'include's an intermediate horizontal bridge 39'which together with the horizontal top and bottom walls 4| and 42, respectively, provide journals to receive a centrally located workholder mechanismindicated generally at 43 (Fig. 1). The frame 31 is readily moved into any angular position relative to the carriage 21 upon manipulation of ahand wheel 44 which operates through worm gears 45, one of which is. carried on the mounting at 38.

The workholder so as to provide a dust and dirt proof guard for the anti-friction bearing 52 therein. The radial flange on the trunnion 46 is suitably apertured to receive pins 53 depending from the bottom face of a circular clamp plate 54, the upper face of which has a suitable resilient facing, such as rubber55.

The glass plate'G, to be beveled, is adapted to be placed upon the resilient facing 55 and a complemental clamp 56 also having a resilient facing 55 is adapted to be brought down tightly against the top of the glass plate to' secure it in place. The top clamp 56 is detachably secured by pins 51 and springs 58 (see Fig. 6) to a collar 59 threaded or otherwise secured to thelower end of a rotatable shaft 6| mounted in axial alignment with trunnion 46. An externally threaded lower end of the externally threaded sleevetZ.

The upper end of the sleeve 62 has an external flange forming a hand wheel 6'! whereby said sleeve may readily be rotated manually to move it vertically through the threaded boss 63.

A cotter pin 68 extending through the shaft 6| adjacent the upper end of the sleeve 62, retains a collar 69 in abutment with the upper end of said sleeve whereby, upon screwing the sleeve upwardly or downwardly, the shaft 6| is likewise moved vertically. In this manner the top clamp 56 is moved into and out of clamping engagement with the glass plate G, and is freely rotatable within said sleeve.

The portion of shaft 6|, extending ,above the pin 68, is flattened on two sides to provide, in cross section, a substantially rectangular shaft portion 6|a which extends into a similarly shaped axial opening H in the boss 12 of a circumferentially flanged collar 13. The upper end of the rectangular opening H in boss 12 receives the flattened end 74 of a driven shaft 15 which extends downwardly from a gear box 16 mounted meshes with a worm I8 carried on one end of the drive shaft 19 of motor 8|. From the foregoing it is obvious that upon operation of the motor 8| the shafts I5 and 6| are rotated in unison to rotate the glass plate G, and, due to the sliding connection between the shaft portion 6 la and the boss 12, the shaft 6| may readily be moved vertically as required. I

As previously mentioned, the tiltable frame 31 is journaled at 38 in the vertical walls of carriage 21 and, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3, an index pointer 82 is carried on one of the trunnions, on the outside of the carriage 21, to co-act with suitable markings 83 on said carriage to indicate the angle of adjustment. The tiltable frame is secured in such adjusted position by tightening the nut 84, as best shown at the left hand side of Fig. 1-, to clamp said frame to the carriage. In operation, the tiltable frames 31 are set at identical angles so that the bevel on the glass is uniformly ground or polished at each station.

Work centering mechanism Fig. 10 best illustrates the means preferably employed for centering a circular glass plate between the clamps 54 and 56. As shown, three radial arms preferably square in cross section and spaced 120 degrees apart are provided, two of which, as at 85, are rigidly secured to the intermediate horizontal bridge 39 of the tiltable frame 31. The third arm 86 extends to the front of the .unit and is pivotally mounted at 81 to the bridge 39 so that it may be swung from its positiorYof use as shown in full lines substantially into the dotted line position shown, while the grinding operation is taking place. mounted upon each of the arms 85 and 86 is a flnger piece 88 which depends therefrom (see Fig; 4) a suflicient distance to engage the edge of a circular glass plate when said fingers are moved Slidabiy 2,174,721 .uniformly toward their common center. Uni- After the glass plate has been centered and clamped, another group of cords BI is pulled, which cords are trained over suitable pulleys 92 mounted one on the end of each arm 85 or 86 for drawing the finger members to the outer extremities of said arms, as shown in Fig. 10.

When a polygonal glass plate is to be beveled only the centering finger 88 on the arm 86 is moved to insure alignment of the edge to be beveled. In this type of operation .the workholder is not rotated but on the contrary is securely locked, by means tobe described here inafter, to retain the glass plate in its position of alignment as determined by the finger 88.

Reciprocating mechanism The means for positively reciprocating each of the workholding units I I in unison, while beveling circular or polygonal glass plates, is best shown in Figs. 2, 7, 8 and 9. A suitable motor I III is mounted upon the platform I and has its shaft The shaft'IIlQ is journaled in suitable vertical standards H2 (Fig. 9) which are rigidly secured at their opposed ends to the" platform I5 and the turntable I2. A plurality of vertical shafts H3, H3a, -I I3!) and H30, have their lower ends journaled respectively in suitable bearings IN on the upper face of \platform I5. Each of said shafts extends through the turntable I2 and each has its upper end journaled in one of a like number of inverted U-shaped brackets II5 mounted on the upper face of the said turntable. The vertical shaft H3 carries an arm I I6 which is operatively connected by a link H"! to the eccentric III whereby said shaft H3 isoscillatably rotated while the motor IIII is in operation. Similar arms H60, HGa and H6b are also securely mounted on said vertical shaft I I3, as best shown in Figs. 7 and 8. A link II'Ic is connected at one end to the armIISc and its other end is pivotally secured to the end of an arm H80 rigidly secured to the ,shaft II3c. A link IIIa connects the arm I I6a with an arm 811 secured to the shaft HM and, the arm-H61) on'shaft H3 is connected by link II 'Ib to the free end of an arm H8b secured to the shaft H3b. By means of these link connections each of the shafts H3, H3a; H312 and H30 is oscillatably rotated in unison I Each shaft H3, lI3a', H31) and H30 has an identical sleeve H9 freely slidable and rotatably mounted thereon which sleeves each extend upwardly through the turntable I2 and have their upperends co-acting with the respective tension spring I2I inserted between the bridge portion of the associated U-shaped bracket H5 and the end of the respective sleeve I IS. The lower extremity of each sleeve H9 carries a male clutch element I22 for normal engagement yvith complemental female clutch elements I23 one of which is rigidly secured to each shaft 3, ll3a, H32; and H30. a

As best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 7, the-upper end of each sleeve H8 carries an arm I24 having a link connector I 25 adJustable therealong.

Links I26 each have one end connected to one of the link connectors I25 and the free end of each is pivotally connected on to one of a plurality of racks .I 21 one of which is adjustably mounted in each work holding unit II.

Accordingly, When all of the clutch elements I22--I23 are in engagement, the sleeves H9 rotatably oscillate in unison with the uniformly oscillating shafts II3,'II3a, H31; and I I3c thus moving the frames 21 and the parts carried thereon reciprocably inwardly and outwardly radially. This movement of each ofthe workholding units I I is necessary so that the glass plate G does not continuously 'ride along the same portion ofthe associated grinding wheel I28 and hence avoids grooving said wheel.

Inasmuch as this apparatus is designed to grind from ten to thirty sizes of glass plate it is necessary that the various units II have a variable reciprocable movement. To this end means is provided'whe'reby the range of reciprocation may readily be varied from approximately. 1 inches to about 7 inches.

As bestshown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, each rack between the carriage .roller plates 22 of the respectiveunit. A pinion I3I is journaled in the vertical walls of the bracket I29 and meshes with the teeth on the associated rack. A thumb nut I32 is secured to a protruding end of the trunnion of each pinion. I3I whereby each pinion may be manually rotated tomove the associated rack longitudinally in the bracket I29 thus varying the length of the operating connection between the work holding unit and the respective actuating arm I24 on the associated sleeve I I9. The racks I21 are readily locked in any position of adjustment by means of latches I33, one being associated with each rack to co-act with one of a plurality of lateral notches I34 extending inwardly from one edge of each rack. Additional adjustment is made by shifting the link connectors I25 into different positions of adjustment on their respective arms I24.

Carriage elevating mechanism While the grinding or polishing operations are taking place at the stations B, C and D the workholding carriages 21 are in.what will be termed their lowered position so that the glass plate G rests upon the respective grinding wheel I28. Immediately upon suflicient grinding being effected at either station the carriage at, that station is elevated to lift the work off from the grinder. This vertical sliding movement of the carriages 27 is effected automatically and includes suitable timing mechanism, indicated generally in Fig. 1 at I35, and trip mechanism I36, best shown in Figs. 4, '7 and 8. One timing mechanism I35 and onetrip mechanism I36 is associated with each of the work-holding units II and in the interest of clarity the parts of eachwill be identified by the same numerals and, as each is identical with the other, only'one of the sets of mechanisms will be bracket and itsuppe r end extends upwardly e through a bearing strap I39 carried on the turntable. The shaft I38 carries a pinion I which, during certain phases of the operation, is adapted to engage a fixedly mounted segment I42 whereby said shaft is partially rotated. A ratchet I43 also is carried by the shaft I38 whereby said shaft is held in its partially rotated position by a spring pressed locking pawl I44 associated therewith. An arm 945 is secured to and extends from the shaft I38 and has connected to its ends two cables I46 and I417.

The cable M6 extends transversely to one side of the turntable, as best illustrated in Fig. 3 and has its end secured to a lever I48 depending from a rock sleeve Hi9 (squared internally) carried on the outside face of one of the turntable straps 25. One end of a squared shaft I5I is slidable within said sleeve and is rotatably journaled, at I52, to the outside face of the vertical supporting frame M. An arm i513 is secured to the free end of the squared shaft I5I and has its free end connected by a cable I54 to the free end of the weighted lever 33.

The other cable I41, which is connected at one end to the arm I45 on shaft I36, extends over a pulley I55 and carries a counterweight I56, as best shown in Figs. 1, 8 and 11. The operation of this tripping mechanism is substantially as follows; by reference to Figs. 3 and 8, when a unit is in the position indicated by the letter A (Station A), the pawl I44 is disengaged from the ratchet I43. While in this position, the combined load of the counterweight I56 and weight 36 is greater than the load of carriage 21, hence the carriage'is counterbalanced and remains elevated to its uppermost position. It is at this station (A) that the attendant removes a completely ground and finished glass plate and inserts another one, having first stopped rotation of the workholder 43. This having been accomplished, the motor driven workholder 43 is started and the turntable is rotated a quarter of a turn moving the work carrying unit from the position A into the position B. As the pinion I4I on shaft I38 engages and moves past the segment I42, said shaft is partially rotated and held in its rotated position by the spring controlled pawl I44. This partial rotation of shaft I38 slackens the cable I46 and the weight 36 is overbalanced by the load 'of the carriage 21 so that the carriage moves by gravity into its lowermost position to bring the work G into contact with the associated grinding wheel. As previously noted grinding will continue until after actuation of the respective timing mechanism I35 previously referred to.

Timin'q mechanism Qne timing mechanism I35, indicated generally in Fig. 1, and best shown in Figs. 8, 11, 12 and 13 is provided on each workholding unit II and, as in the description of the tripping mechanism, only one of these timing mechanisms will be described in detail; like numerals identifying like parts of each mechanism.

Referring specifically to Figs. 11, 12 and 13, the timing mechanism includes a rack bar I6I verti cally slidable in a bracket I62 mounted on one side of the workholding unit II. This rack is adapted to have an intermittent or step by step .movement upwardly during the operation of the apparatus and, to this end, a holding pawl I63 and a feeding pawl I64 are provided. The holding pawl I63 .is journaled to a suitable bracket, I65 carried on .the outside face of one of the turntable straps 25, and normally is held in engagement with the rack teeth by a spring I66.

The,feeding pawl I64 is carried on one arm of a bell crank I61 extending through the strap 25. The free end of the other bell crank arm is connected by link I68 to one arm 11! of another bell crank I12 journaledpn the bottom face of the turnable I2, as best shown in Figs. 11 and 8. The other arm I13 of the bell crank I12 is connected by link I14 to an arm I15 extending outwardly from and rigidly secured near the lower end of the respective sleeve H9 mounted on one of the vertical shafts II3. Hence, it is obvious that when the sleeve H9 is being oscillatably rotated by operation of the motor IUI to horizontally reciprocate the workholding unit, the rack feeding pawl E64 is actuated to elevate the rack bar I6I intermittently.

Fixedly secured to and extending inwardly and upwardly from the lower end of the rack bar ifii is a stop arin I8I; When the rack bar reaches its uppermost position the stop arm I8I engages one arm I82 of a trip lever I83 Journaled to the inside face of one of the straps 25. The other arm I84 of said lever is connected to one end of a cable I85. Referring now to Fig. 8, the cable I85 is shown trained over a pulley I86 on the under face of the turntable, and its other end is secured to the locking pawl I44. Movement of the trip lever I83, upon its being engaged by the stop arm I8I, pulls the locking pawl I44 out of engagement with the ratchet I43 and it is in this manner thatthe counterweight I56 is added to weight 36 to elevate the carriage and terminate the grinding operation. The duration of time during which the grinding is taking place is determined by the distance the rack bar I6I must travel before the stop arm I8I engages and tripsthe trip lever I83.

/ Rack Bar Release As previously noted, a holding pawl I63 is provided to retain the rack bar in any position of rest during and after its reaching its uppermost position. Said bar is released automatically and falls by its own weight when the turntable is turned to position the work-holding units at their next succeeding station. To accomplish this the pawls I63 and I64 are connected by flexible cords I9I to a, finger I92 carried on the upper end of a trigger rod I93. The rod I93 is journaled vertically in spaced ears I94 provided on the bracket I65 and its lower end is turned substantially horizontaliy to provide a trigger finger I95. While the apparatus is being rotated to position the various units II at stations B, C or D the trigger finger I95 engages a rigid arm I96 (see Fig. 1) mounted on the upper end of vertical standard I91 arranged in the path of said finger. This engagement turns the trigger rod I93 and pulls both pawls out of engagement with the rack bar and said bar drops onto a vertically adjustable ;plate I98 carried on the standard I91.

Accordingly, the position of the plate I98 on standard I91 determines the distance to which the rack bar I6I drops, which in each instance is) its starting position, and, as said plate may readily be adjusted vertically, the time interval required before said rack bar reaches its uppermost position to actuate the spring controlled Clutch mechanism When the glass plate is elevated above the arm 20I- is fixedly secured to the upper end of the vertical shaft I38. A cable 202 connected with the free end of said arm, extends substantially horizontally through an opening in the U- v shaped bracket II of the asssociated operating mechanism, then downwardly through the tumtable to have its free end connected with a clutch operating arm 203. This cord remains slack while grinding is being done. Thearm 203 is pivotally secured at one end, as at 204 (see Fig. 8) and has its forked other end engaged around the associated male clutchelement I22. Accord-' ingly, when the locking pawl H4 is disengaged from the ratchet M3, to elevate the carriage, the

ratchet and its shaft i138 return to their normal position, thus pulling the cable 282 taut and disengaging the clutch elements I22I23. This disengages the associated sleeve II9 from its source or" power and reciprocation of the frame 21 andactuation of the feeding pawl I64 ceases.

Operation The operation of this machine is simple, positive and emcient and requires the attention of but one attendant. The attendant, standing at the station A, inserts, for example, a circular glass plate G between the workholding clamps 54 and 56. He then operates the centering mechanism, best shown in Fig. 10, to place the glass plate in axial alignment with the workholder and the work is then locked in place by manipulation of the hand wheel 61 on the externally threaded sleeve 62. Suitable switches (not shown) are provided on each unit II to start motor 8|, for

rotating the glass, and motor IIII on the platform I5. He then releases'a lock 205 (Fig. '7)

and by operating the bell crank shaft I8I9, ro-,

tates the turntable to position the unit II (in which the glass plate has just been inserted) at station B.

As the unit II reaches this station the pinion ill is partially rotated by momentary engagement with the associated segment I42 thus slacking cable I46 to lower the carriage 21 thereof to position the glass plate against the adjacent,

grinding wheel I28 and, at the same time, efl'ecting engagement of the clutch elements I22--I23 of the associated operating mechanism. The parts are held in this position of operation by the locking pawl I.

During this movement of the unit I I from station A to station B, the trigger finger I was momentarily engaged by the rigid arm I96 thus releasing the timing rack and dropping it onto plate I98. As the clutch elerfients I22 I23 are now in engagement, the entire workholding unit I I is being reciprocated horizontally and the timlng. mechanism I35 is actuating to intermittently elevate the rack I 6| one notch at a time. It should be noted, at this time, that the workholding unit II, as a whole, is reciprocated once to each two revolutions of the glass plate being bevelled. This is desirable to avoid positioning the same point of the bevel edge on the identical spot of the grinding wheel during each complete horizontal reciprocable movement, thus avoiding undue wear and insuring uniform beveling over the entire circumferential edge of the glass.

the locking pawl when the rack ISI reaches its uppermost position,

I is disengaged from its associated ratchet I43 thus adding the load of weight I58 to that 01' the weight 36 to elevate the carriage and carry the glass plate upwardly away from the grinding wheel: This release of the ratchet also disengages the clutch element I22 and I23 thus stopping reciprocation and halting actuation of timing mechanism.

While the grinding is taking place at' station B, the attendant inserts a glass plate in the unit I I now resting at the station A and, this having been accomplished and the grinding operation at station B having been completed, he again rotates the turntable to carry the glass plate just inserted, into station E and the one just ground at station B, intoposition at station C where the same operations of'each unit are repeated. The glass plate, bevelled at station B, is given a finished grinding at station 0. While the rough grinding is being performed at station B and the finished grinding is taking place at station C, the attendant is inserting another glass plate into the unit now resting at station A. Having done this, and the carriages at stations B and C having been elevated upon the completion of the grinding at said stations, he again rotates I the turntable to position the newly inserted glass plate at the station B; the rough ground glass plate from station B, at station C, and the finishground glass from station C into station D where it is polished. Upon the completion of the rough grinding at station B, finish-grinding at station C and polishing at station D and insertion of a new glass plate in the unit resting at station A, the apparatus is again rotated to move each unit into the next successive station. This positions the completed glass plate from station D at the original. starting point, or station A. The attendant removes this bevelled glass plate and inserts a new piece while the grinding and polishing is taking place at the other three stations as before. These operations are repeated, the attendant removing the finished glass plates and inserting new plates as each unit I I returns to its position of rest, station-A. It is apparent that inasmuch as the grinding and polishing operations at each of the various stations B, C and D are for different periods of time, the separate clutch mechanism I22-I23 is necessary for each unit.

When a polygonal glass plate-is inserted in the 'workholder, the motor BI is not operated and, as

, the front edge of the glass plate, the workholding unit is locked against rotation to insure proper alignment of said edge with the grinding wheel. This locking is eifected by a vertically adjustable yoke 2 (Figs. 4 and 5) which yoke is moved into engagement over the circumferential flange 2 I3 on the collar 13. Winged set screws 2| 4 and 2I5 secure this engagement. In'Flg. 5'the adjustable yoke 2 is shown in a position substan tially '90 from its true location as shown in Fig. 4, for the purpose of illustration only.

Having specifically described the improved apparatus and shown various parts in detail in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the specific structure of the various parts thereof are illustrative merely and not restrictive shown but that it embody such modifications in detail structure as may be warranted by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for beveling glass plates, the combination with a grinding wheel, of a mounting, means on said mounting to hold a rotatably driven glass plate angularly against the grinding wheel, said means including a reciprocable supporting frame and a slidable carriage, power operated mechanism to reciprocate said frame, timing mechanism, and means actuated by said timing mechanism to halt reciprocation of said frame and slide said slidable carriage to terminate the bevelingv of the glass plate.

2. In an apparatus for beveling glass plates, the combination with a grinding wheel, of a turntable, means on said turntable to hold a glass plate, said means including a reciprocable supporting frame and a normally elevated slidable carriage, power operated mechanism to reciprocate said frame, means operable to lower said carriage for placing the work against the grinding wheeLtiming mechanism, and means actuated by said timing mechanism to halt reciprocation of said frame and elevate said slidable carriage.

3. In an apparatus for beveling'glass plates, the combination with a plurality of grinding wheels, of a turntable, a plurality of glass plate "holding units mounted thereon, said table being rotatable to position each of said units successively at positions of rest, rough grinding, fine grinding and polishing, means connecting eachofsaid units with a common source of power,.

independent means in each unit to rotate the glass plate carried therein, a timing mechanism for each unit, and means actuated by said timing .mechanism to disconnect the associated unit from the common source of power.

4, In an apparatus for beveling glass plates,

the combination with grinding wheels, of a turntable, a plurality of glass plate holding units mounted thereon, said turntable being rotatable to position each of said units successivelyat positions of rest, rough grinding, fine grinding and polishing, means connecting each of said units with a common source of power, a clutch between each unit and said source of power, independent means in each unit operable to rotate the glass plate carried therein, individual timing mechanism for each unit, and separate means connecting each timing mechanism one with each clutch to disconnect the associated unit from the common source of power.

5. In an apparatus for beveling glass plates in- I eluding a unit having a reciprocable frame, a

carriage slidable in said frame, a glass plate holding power-operated mechanism mounted in said carriage, means to reciprocate said frame, means to retain said carriage with its glass plate holding mechanism in position for grinding, and timing mechanism associated with said unit operable to halt reciprocation of said frame and to slide the carriage to move the glass plate holding mechanism out of grinding position.

6. In an apparatus for beveling glass plates including automatically actuated timing mechanism for the beveling operation, said mechanism comprising, in combination, a slidable rack, a power operated feeding pawl operable to intermittently slide said rack, means operable when said rack reaches a predetermined position to stop the grinding operation and halt operation of said feeding pawl, means operable to return said rack to itsinitial position, and means adjustable to vary the initial position of said rack.

'7. In an apparatus for beveling glass plates, a turntable, a plurality of glass plate holding units equally spaced apart on said turntable, each of said units including a reciprocable frame and a slidable carriage, means in each carriage to support a glass plate, power operated mechanism for reciprocating each of said frames, a plurality of clutches each operable independently to halt reciprocation of its associated frame, and means operable upon disengagement of a clutch to slide the associated carriage.

8. In an apparatus for beveling glass plates including a plurality of individual workholding units, a source of power, a plurality of oscillatably eluding, in combination, a turntable, a plurality of sets of tracks on said turntable, a plurality of supporting frames, one frame slidably mounted in each set of, tracks,-a carriage slidable on each frame, a tiltable workholder frame mounted in each carriage, means on each tiltable frame to operatea workholder mounted therein, means operable to reciprocably slide each supporting frame, a plurality of timing mechanisms one associated with each frame, and means operable upon actuation of a timing mechanism to halt movement of the associated. reciprocable supporting frame.

10. In an apparatus for beveling glass plates, the combination with a grinding wheel, of a mounting, means on said mounting to hold a glass plateangularly against the grinding wheel,

' said means including .a reciprocable supporting wheels, of a support, a plurality of glass plate holding units mounted thereon, said support being movable to position each of said units successively at positions of rest, rough grinding, fine grinding and polishing, means connecting each of said units with a common source of power, timing mechanism for each unit, and means actuated by said timing mechanism to disconnect the associated unit from the common source of power.

12. In an apparatus for beveling glass plates, a turntable, a plurality of glass plate. holding units equally spaced apart on said turntable, each of said units including a reciprocable frame and a slidable carriage, means in each carriage to support a glass plate, power operated mech- 13. In an apparatus of the character described, a plurality of workholding units including a reciprocable frame having a slidable carriage therein, a plurality of power operated oscillatably rotatable shafts, a sleeve on each shaft, a clutch normally connecting each sleeve with its respective shaft, means connecting the sleeves one to each frame to oscillate said frames, latching means one to retain each slidable carriage in a predetermined position while the associated frame is oscillating, timing means in each unit operable to release the associated latching means, and means operable upon release of said latching means to disengage the associated clutch.

14. In an apparatus of the character described,

a plurality of workholding units mounted for movement into successive positions, each of said units including a reciprocable frame and a slidable carriage, a plurality of power operated oscillatably rotatable shafts, means disengageable by a clutch connecting saidshafts one to a. 7 each unit to oscillate the frame thereof, timing means for each unit operable to disengage the associated clutch after a predetermined period of frame oscillatiomand means to cause engagement of said clutch upon movement of the unit into its next successive position.

15. In an apparatus of the character described 7 including a support, a plurality of workholding units on said'support, said support being movable to successively position said units at different positions for grinding, each of said units including a reciprocable frame and a slidable carriage, operating means therefor, a clutch connecting each unit with said operating means, timing mechanism on each unit to open the associated clutch to disconnect the respective unit from said operating means, and means operable to close said clutch upon movement of the unit into its next successive position.

more GUGALA. 

